Eight Ends: 2023 Princess Auto Players’ Championship preview
TORONTO — The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tour resumes for its crown jewel event, the Princess Auto Players’ Championship, beginning Tuesday at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Featuring the top-ranked teams of the season, it’s tough enough just to qualify for entry into the major tournament never mind raising the trophy at the end of the week with the best-of-the-best from around the world in action.
This year also marks the milestone 30th running of the event.
Here’s what you need to know before the action gets underway.
First End: What makes the Princess Auto Players’ Championship prestigious is it actually predates the formation of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling having been held since 1993 and serving as the tour finale. Even when the Grand Slam series was formed in 2001, the Players’ Championship remained its marquee event. It was also the first of the four major tournaments to expand from a men’s invitational to include a women’s division as well.
Kevin Martin captured the men’s title eight times — winning his last in 2014 to cap his legendary career on a high note. Jennifer Jones has won the Players’ Championship women’s title a record six times with her most recent happening here at Mattamy Athletic Centre in 2017.
Second End: The Princess Auto Players’ Championship has found a familiar home at Mattamy Athletic Centre. This year marks the eighth time since 2013 it has been held at the historic venue formerly known as Maple Leafs Gardens.
Right from the start of the event’s run in Toronto, the record books were re-written. Scotland’s Team Muirhead became the first non-Canadian club to win a Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championship in 2013 and Eve Muirhead also became the youngest skip to capture a title in the series at age 22. History continued to be rewritten last year when Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg became the first skip in the women’s division to complete a career Grand Slam.
Could history be made again this year? Stay tuned.
Third End: The Princess Auto Players’ Championship will also crown the season champions in the series with the awarding of the Pinty’s Cup. Kerri Einarson and her Canadian club have had a sensational season reaching every Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s final. They hold an eight-point cushion over Rachel Homan’s crew, who were victorious over Team Einarson in the HearingLife Tour Challenge women’s final but lost the rematch for the WFG Masters title.
Meanwhile, Niklas Edin leads the way in the men’s division as his Swedish squad won the HearingLife Tour Challenge and were runners-up in the BOOST National and Co-op Canadian Open. Brad Gushue, who bested Edin in the BOOST National men’s final, is just four points back in second place though.
Roughly double points are up for grabs at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship, so the chase for the Pinty’s Cup will likely come down to the wire.
Fourth End: No men’s or women’s team has won three consecutive Players’ Championship titles in the history of the event. Einarson came close last year but fell short of a three-peat losing to Hasselborg in the women’s final.
Bruce Mouat and his Scottish side now look to become the first to pull it off on the men’s side. Team Mouat won the Players’ Championship inside the Calgary bubble in 2021 and successfully defended the title last year when the event returned to Toronto with their family and friends making the trip across the pond to cheer them on. Who could forget hearing, “We like to Mouat! Mouat!” and other supportive chants every time they made a great shot?
They’re also arriving in top form having just captured their first world championship Sunday in Ottawa. Teams skipped by Edin, Gushue, Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell, Italy’s Joël Retornaz and Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller are also en route down Highway 401 or already in town. Will fatigue be a factor or will they maintain momentum? As they say, no rest for the world’s best.
Fifth End: When we last left our heroes, Brendan Bottcher claimed his fourth career Grand Slam title and first with his newly assembled Calgary-based crew at the Co-op Canadian Open in January. Could they pick up where they left off in the series?
Meanwhile in the women’s division, Satsuki Fujisawa and her squad made history at the Co-op Canadian Open by becoming the first Japanese team, and first Asian-based club, to capture a Grand Slam. What’s in store for the encore?
Sixth End: Einarson is also aiming to reach a seventh consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling final. The unprecedented streak stretches back to last season, coincidentally beginning right here at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship.
Seventh End: With Hasselborg becoming the first to complete a career Grand Slam in the women’s division last year, who else could reach that mark? Homan could pull it off as she’s just a Princess Auto Players’ Championship away from achieving the feat. The 12-time Grand Slam women’s champion has finished runner-up at the Players’ Championship on three occasions, most recently in 2021.
With Hasselborg becoming the first to complete a career Grand Slam in the women’s division last year, who else could reach that mark? Homan could pull it off as she’s just a Princess Auto Players’ Championship away from achieving the feat. The 12-time Grand Slam women’s champion has finished runner-up at the Players’ Championship on three occasions, most recently in 2021.
Eighth End: Silvana Tirinzoni has missed the playoffs at the past two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events, but her Swiss squad is coming off of an undefeated run through the world women’s curling championship. Tirinzoni and vice skip Alina Paetz, who throws fourth stones, have now captured an incredible four consecutive gold medals.
Tirinzoni won her third career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s title at the BOOST National in October and now sets her sights on claiming the Princess Auto Players’ Championship for the first time.
Extra End: The Princess Auto Players’ Championship is an event you don’t want to miss. Full-event and weekend passes plus single draw tickets are available at the Mattamy Athletic Centre box office and online at Ticketmaster.ca.
If you can’t make it to Toronto, broadcast coverage begins Thursday on Sportsnet.
| Date | Time (ET) | Time (PT) | Draw | Channel | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday April 13 | 11:30 a.m. | 8:30 a.m. | Round Robin | Sportsnet | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) |
| 3:30 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Round Robin | Sportsnet | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) | |
| 7 p.m. | 4 p.m. | Round Robin | Sportsnet Pacfic | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) | |
| Friday April 14 | 11:30 a.m. | 8:30 a.m. | Round Robin | Sportsnet | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) |
| 3:30 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Round Robin | Sportsnet | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) | |
| 7:30 p.m. | 4:30 p.m. | Round Robin | Sportsnet ONE | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) | |
| Saturday April 15 | 11:30 a.m. | 8:30 a.m. | Tiebreakers (if nec.) / Quarterfinals | Sportsnet | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) |
| 3:30 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Quarterfinals | Sportsnet ONE | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) | |
| 7:30 p.m. | 4:30 p.m. | Men’s/Women’s Semifinals | Sportsnet | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) | |
| Sunday April 16 | 1 p.m. | 10 a.m. | Women’s Final | Sportsnet ONE | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) |
| 5 p.m. | 2 p.m. | Men’s Final | Sportsnet & Sportsnet ONE | Sportsnet NOW (Canada) Yare (International) |
